1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hair care component and method of manufacture for use in a hair coloring system.
2. Background Art
Some people apply a colorant to their hair. During the application, many hair coloring systems use a strongly alkaline solution to open the cuticle of the hair. With the cuticle open, the colorant may penetrate further into the interior of the hair. The cuticle of the hair is then closed by rinsing with relatively neutral pH water or rinsing solution.
But, the colorant typically is washed out by repeated shampooing within a relatively short period of time. Even while the colorant is present, repeated washing causes incremental loss of the colorant that reduces the color intensity and the coverage of gray hair.
Some polymers have been used to slow the incremental loss of the colorant while retaining the color intensity and gray coverage. The use of a strongly alkaline solution in the hair coloring system, such as those having a pH greater than 9, often is detrimental to many polymers' functional effectiveness. The alkalinity may disrupt the polymers' tertiary structure and/or hydrogen bonding. The disruption typically makes substantial changes to the polymers' properties, such as viscosity. As a consequence, the polymers are included in a second solution that may be blended with the alkaline-solution colorant once the colorant has been applied to the hair. Such blending provides opportunities for inaccurate or inhomogeneous mixing. Incorrect mixing may result in an unacceptable hair coloring experience.
What is needed is a hair care component, which can assist in increasing the colorant penetration into the interior of the hair and in extending the time period between colorings of the hair. The hair care component further needs to be compatible with typical hair coloring systems that use strongly alkaline solutions and be suitable for blending with the hair coloring system prior to application to the hair.